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Populous Plays Will Inflict Long-Term Damage - When one reads between the lines, several noticeable trends in the mining and mineral processing sector become more apparent in this edition. One of those trends is the government meddling with mining operations in some fashion or another, whether it be unfair taxation, resource nationalization, etc. we open this month with a news story that diplomatically discusses stranded gold assets amidst Venezuela’s decision to ban gold development projects in a forest reserve. One company with gold interests.........
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Hecla Sells Venezuelan Assets as Crystallex and Gold Reserve Ponder Conflicting Directives
- Venezuelan government actions relating to gold mining from late April through the end of June 2008 were at best confusing. Crystallex International and Gold Reserve, which separately hold the neighboring, long-running Crystallex and Brisas gold development projects in Venezuela’s Imataca Forest Reserve, were told in late April that a ban had been placed on surface mining in the reserve..........
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M&A Activity Running Hot Among Canadian Juniors - Merger and acquisition activity was running at a faster pace among junior Canadian companies in late June and early July. Here are brief reports on four transactions: New Gold, Peak Gold and MetallicaCombine:On June 30, 2008, New Gold, Peak Gold and Metallica Resources announced completion of a business combination of the three companies. The transaction was structured as an all-share purchase by New Gold of the other two companies for New Gold shares valued at about $1.37 billion....... read
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OZ Minerals Emerges from Oxiana-Zinifex Union - Oxiana Minerals and Zinifex received court approval for an agreed "merger of equals" on June 20, 2008, and announced plans to name the merged company OZ Minerals. The new name incorporates the first letters of Oxiana and Zinifex and, of course, has some resonance in Australia, the land of Oz. The name change required shareholder approval at a meeting scheduled for July 18, 2008. OZ Minerals is owned 50:50 by the former shareholders of Oxiana and Zinifex.... read
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Tenke Fungurume Cu/Co Project Advances to Meet 2009 Production Startup - Lundin Mining Corp. recently issued an update on the $1.75-billion Tenke Fungurume copper/cobalt project in Katanga Province, Democratic Republic of Congo. Lundin holds a 24.75% interest in Tenke Fungurume. The majority interest (57.75%) is held by by operating partner Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold. Upon completion of the first phase of development, the mine is expected to produce about 115,000 mt/y of copper cathode and 8,000 mt/y cobalt. First production is forecast in the second half of 2009....read
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Northgate Advances Young-Davidson Gold
- Northgate Minerals has completed an NI 43-101 preliminary assessment report on its Young-Davidson gold project immediately west of the village of Matachewan, Ontario, about 60 km west of Kirkland Lake, and has commissioned AMEC Americas to conduct a full feasibility study on the project. The preliminary assessment lays out the basis for development of a combined underground and open-pit mining operation. Environmental baseline studies in support of permitting......
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Cameco/Mitsubishi JV Buys Interest in Kintyre Uranium - Cameco Corp. announced on July 8, 2008, that it signed an agreement to acquire a 70% interest in the Kintyre uranium exploration project in Western Australia for $346.5 million. A joint venture comprising Cameco (70%) and Mitsubishi Development Pty. Ltd. (30%) purchased the Kintyre project from Rio Tinto for $495 million through a bidding process. Cameco will operate the project and is funding its share of the purchase price through existing credit facilities. The transaction is expected to close in August subject to ministerial approval in Western Australia.... read
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NovaGold, Barrick Decide on Donlin Creek Project Design
- NovaGold reported on June 10, 2008, that Donlin Creek LLC, owned 50% each by NovaGold and Barrick Gold, had identified a preferred design for the Donlin Creek gold project in southwest Alaska. The companies plan to complete and approve a feasibility study by the first quarter of 2009. Current expectations are that Donlin Creek will have a throughput design of about 50,000 mt/d and will use on-site diesel and wind cogeneration for power.....read
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Iamgold’s Paste Backfill System Could Double Reserves at Niobec
- A recently completed feasibility study regarding adoption of a paste backfill system at Iamgold’s Niobec niobium mining operation in northern Quebec indicates the system could double the mine’s reserves. Capital costs to install the system are estimated at $8 million. A shaftdeepening program currently in progress will extend the Niobec shaft from its current bottom of 1,806 m to 2,682 m. Installation of the paste backfill system could be completed by mid-2010 to coincide....read

Mustang Initiates Feasibility Study at Maskwa Nickel
- Mustang Minerals reported on June 26, 2008 that it had received a positive, NI 43-101 compliant prefeasibility study from Micon International for its Maskwa nickel project 140 km northeast of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and that it had begun a full feasibility study and permitting activity. The study concluded that "the Maskwa project contains an economic mineral reserve and warrants continued development to the full feasibility stage." Micon supervised completion the study, which included....read
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San Cristobal Nearing Design Capacity - In an operations update issued June 2, 2008, Apex Silver reported that ramp-up to full production at the San Cristobal silver- zinc-lead project in the Potosí district of Bolivia was proceeding favorably, with design throughput rates expected to be consistently achieved by mid-year. During May, San Cristobal completed the 14-day throughput test provided for in the engineering, procurement and construction management contract. During the test, the plant achieved……read
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Coeur Pours Doré at San Bartolomé, Targets 2009 Start for Palmarejo - In separate announcements during June 2008, Coeur d’Alene Mines reported the pouring of the first silver doré at its new San Bartolomé mine in Bolivia and progress toward a production start during the first half of 2009 at its Palmarejo mine in Mexico. San Bartolomé, claimed by Coeur to be the world’s largest pure silver mine, is located in the Potosí district of Bolivia, historically….read more

Anglo, Communities Reach Michiquillay Agreement - Anglo American reported in early June 2008 that it has established a social development agreement with the communities of Michiquillay and La Encañada, Cajamarca, Peru, in relation to development of the Michiquillay copper project. Anglo won the right to develop the project with a bid of $403 million in a government auction in April 2007. Half of the bid total, $201.5 million, is earmarked for creation of a social fund to support development projects of direct benefit to….read more

Nippon Piloting New Copper- Gold Extraction Process - Nippon Mining & Metals announced in late June 2008 that it will build a pilot plant in Perth, Western Australia, to test its Nikko Chloride Process (N-Chlo Process) for recovery of copper and gold from low-grade copper concentrates. Newcrest Mining will cooperate in the project and will supply concentrates for use in testing. Bateman has the engineering contract for the plant, and Amdel Labs will be responsible for test operations….read
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Nautilus Contracts for Seabed Mining Support Vessel
- Nautilus Minerals has entered into a binding agreement with North Sea Shipping Holding AS, of Norway, for provision of a specialist mining support vessel for Nautilus’ Solwara 1 sea-floor mining project in Papua New Guinea. The ship will be supplied on a five-year charter basis, with options to extend for another five years. The contract is valued at about $125 million over the initial five-year period….read
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Highland Developing Mayskoye in Russia’s Far Northeast - Highland Gold Mining announced in mid- June 2008 that it is proceeding with construction of its Mayskoye project in the Chukotka region of Russia’s far northeast. At full production beginning in 2010, Mayskoye is slated to produce between 250,000 and 275,000 oz/y of gold over a mine life of more than 12 years. Capital cost to develop the project is expected to be between $500 million and $550 million….read
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Rio Tinto Expands Lateritic Nickel Resources at Sulawesi - Rio Tinto recently reported a 162 million mt lateritic nickel resource at its Sulawesi nickel project in Indonesia along with substantial potential to outline further mineralization through additional exploration. Rio Tinto Copper CEO Bret Clayton said, "Sulawesi Nickel has been confirmed as a tier one opportunity for our group. This announcement shows a substantial resource.….read
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Norilsk Puts Tati Activox Refinery Project on Indefinite Hold - Norilsk Nickel announced in early June 2008 that the previously announced Activox nickel refinery project at Tati Nickel in Botwsana has been postponed indefinitely due to cost escalation. The government of Botswana, which is 15% owner of Tati Nickel, supported the postponement. Norilsk acquired its 85% interest in Tati Nickel in mid-2007 when it acquired LionOre Mining International. A 2006 LionOre feasibility study had estimated project capital cost for construction of the Activox refinery at $498 million….read

Avion Resources Acquires Mali Gold Projects
- Avion Resources Corp. has acquired an 80% interest in the Tabakoto and Segala gold projects located in Mali, West Africa, from Nevsun Africa (Barbados) Ltd., a subsidiary of Nevsun Resources Ltd. The remaining 20% interest in the Mali projects belongs to the Government of Mali. The Tabakoto project was previously a producing gold mine and has mining infrastructure and processing facilities in place. To fund the acquisition, Avion completed an equity financing of 60.1 million……
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ArcelorMittal Buys Shares of Macarthur, Buys Mid Vol
- One of world’s leading steel producers is also buying up me coal mining operations. ArcelorMittal announces during the end of June that it had increased its stake in Macarthur Coal in Australia from 14.9% to 19.9%. The total investment amounted to A$843 million. The acquisition of this holding is in line with ArcelorMittal’s strategy of securing its supply of raw materials, in this case through the acquisition of a stake in a leading supplier of low volatile pulverized coal injection (PCI) coal…. read
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Cleveland-Cliffs and Alpha Natural Resources to Merge
- After approving a definitive merger agreement under which it will acquire all outstanding shares of Alpha in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $10 billion, Cleveland-Cliffs announced a merger with Alpha Natural Resources, a leading U.S. coal producer operating in central Appalachia. The combined company, which will be renamed Cliffs Natural Resources, will become one of the largest U.S. mining companies and be positioned as a leading diversified mining and natural resources company…...read

NWR Granted Polish Coal Mining License -
New World Resources (NWR), Central Europe’s leading hard coal producer, announced that it has been granted a mining license for the Debiensko 1 area of southern Poland by the Polish Ministry of Environment. The license, which is valid for a period of 50 years, was granted to NWR’s wholly-owned Polish subsidiary, Karbonia PL, following an application filed with the Polish Ministry of Environment. Granting the Debiensko license is seen as a significant milestone…...read
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The Lumwana copper project, located in Zambia’s North West Province some 300 km west of the traditional Zambian Copperbelt, started its scheduled ramp-up to full production of 20 million metric tons per year (mt/y) of ore in July 2008. What has been hailed as the largest greenfields mining project in Africa for some years should reach full production capacity by the end of the year. Lumwana, which has been declared a national priority project by the government of Zambia, will result in its owner, Australian based and Toronto Stock Exchange listed Equinox Minerals, becoming one of the world’s top 20 copper producers……. read
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DRILLING & BLASTING

Explosive SituationsWhat’s new in the blasting marketplace and what’s happening at, and to, the largest explosives suppliers—and why the price of ANFO isn’t likely to drop anytime soon
By Russell A. Carter, Managing Editor

One of the unfortunate corollaries of the long-running global mineral commodities boom is that mining—in all its forms— has gotten more expensive. Drilling and blasting operations haven’t been exempt from this cost escalation. Although the "perfect storm" analogy is probably overused to describe the convergence of trends that magnify the impact of an event, it seems like an appropriate description for price increases in the D&B sector, particularly in blasting where the rising price of petroleum— and every downstream-market item associated with it—along with higher natural gas prices and competition from other industries for basic explosives components such as ammonia......read
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Australia Exports Mining and Processing TechnologyThe leading mineral exporter is also worldwide problem solver
By Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief, and Kyran Casteel, European Editor

Only a few countries have as diverse a mineral portfolio as Australia. Name a mineral commodity and they actively mine it. Most of those mines and mills are located in remote regions. Unable to wait for answers from abroad, Australian mining engineers and metallurgists have always been regarded as problem solvers. Today, at times, it seems the mining industry is under constant siege with a shortage of skilled labor, increased regulatory scrutiny and ever escalating costs. As one Australian firm framed the situation,the need to work smarter and not harder, is crucial during this historic mining boom…...read
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MINEXPO 2008 PREVIEW

World’s Largest Mining Exposition Returns to Las Vegas After four years of unparalleled demand, many OEMs will debut new products and services for the mining and mineral processing sectorBy Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief

What sets MINExpo INTERNATIONAL 2008 apart from past expositions is the positive, yet bewildered mind set brought on by a mining supercycle amidst skyrocketing costs. Even though mining companies see commodity prices at 25- year highs, price increases for steel, fuel, and every other consumable are forcing them to remain as efficient as possible. The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), those that bear the bad news of cost increase for equipment and supplies, find themselves at their busiest point with lead times for equipment for new projects stretching from 18 months for rolling stock.....read
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First Bucyrus Diesel LHD Goes Underground in India - Bucyrus said the first of its FBL-10 LHDs for the Indian market has been delivered, and successfully trialed by Singareni Collieries Co. Ltd. (SCCL) at its GDK5 mine. This development, according to Bucyrus, is an important first for the Indian coal industry, SCCL and Bucyrus, and is also a historic event as it is the first modern diesel-powered LHD to be used anywhere in India at the coal face ….read
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Atlas Copco Publishes New Book on Raiseboring - Atlas Copco has added a new title to its popular series of reference books on rock excavation technology. Raiseboring in Mining and Construction features technical case stories and reference cases as well as technical specifications for all Atlas Copco raiseboring equipment. The book’s extensive collection of technical articles covers subjects such as horizontal and low-angle boring, down reaming, the selection of drive systems and the history of raiseboring…… read
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New P&H Copper Dipper Helps Increase Production Efficiencies - P&H Mining Equipment said a new mining shovel dipper developed by and tailored to the hard-rock material handling conditions often encountered in copper mining operations is helping to increase production efficiencies in a growing number of mines. According to the company, when a major copper mining operation learned of a new overburden-loading dipper that P&H Mining Equipment had developed with its P&H MinePro Services service support network on behalf of a large coal mining operation.….read
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Copper Mine Chooses Wenco Fleet Management System
- Taseko Mines will install Wenco International’s Fleet Management System at its Gibraltar mine in south-central British Columbia as part of a major expansion and modernization program for the open-pit copper-molybdenum operation. Gibraltar produces 36,700 t/d of ore with an annual life of mine average production of 70 million lb of copper and 1.1 million lb of molybdenum. .……
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CSIRO Reports on Seafloor Mining - The environmental, economic, regulatory and social issues raised as a result of the mining industry’s increasing interest in extracting rich deposits of minerals from Australia’s seafloor are discussed in a new report recently issued in Sydney by the Director of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization’s Wealth from Oceans National Research Flagship, Dr. Kate Wilson. Wilson said….read
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New Flotation Setup Provides Optimal Recovery for Macraes Gold
- OceanaGold Corp., operator of the Macraes gold mine in New Zealand, announced in mid-December 2007 that it had successfully commissioned three new Outotec TankCell 300 flotation cells at the Macraes mill. Each TankCell 300 has a capacity of more than 300 m3, making it the world’s largest commercially operating flotation cell. The new installation, according to the company, has enabled a significant increase in throughput combined with lower maintenance and operating costs….read
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Portable Lighting System - Allmand’s SHO-HD was designed to deliver brighter and whiter light for enhanced visibility and greater coverage of jobsites. Featuring 1,250-watt lamps and ballasts, the SHO-HD produces 150,000 lumens per lamp, a 36% increase over the 110,000-lumen output of standard 1,000-watt lamps.….read
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Lightweight Belt Splicing Tool-
Flexco says its aluminum MSRT installation tool is lightweight and portable, designed to assist splice installers in harsh working environments where heavy splicing equipment has to be moved on a regular basis. The new scalloped design of the tool’s riser plate allows for fast, accurate alignment of fastener strips on the anvil plate. The riser plate positions the belt for easier feed….read
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Metex Resources Ltd. announced that Andrew Dash has been appointed COO.

The U.S. National Mining Association announced the appointments of Roger Roberts as senior vice president, Administration and Finance and Ben Brandes as director of Air Quality..

Terex Corp. announced that Eric A. Nielsen has been named president, Terex Materials Processing & Mining.

Boliden announced that Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Group Communications, Eva Kaijser, will succeed Sune Lundin as the company’s senior vice president, Strategy and Business Development.

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS Awards for Business Excellence 2008 recently honored Blackie Marole, CEO of Debswana Diamond Co. (Pty) Ltd., for work conducted on HIV/AIDs in Expanded Community Initiatives

Evolving Gold Corp. announced the appointment of Vitaly Melnikov as CFO.